Taxpayer Update: Nats go compulsory 💰 | Greens go full tax grab 💸 | Matua Jones' limo bill 🥂 | Bureaucrats caught in cover up 🤫
Dear Supporer,
It might be a Sunday, but your humble Taxpayers' Union has been in the office today and hard at work... 💁♂️
A lot to pack in this week: some promising signs on the local government information front, yet more interesting maths from Labour (just how many times can Hipkins spend the same money all over again? 🤔).
Shane Jones is at it again with the taxpayer expense card (stretch limos and all 🤦♂️), some good news for Wellington ratepayers (not a sentence you see often), and our two cents on the Immigration/MBIE scandal where officials misled Ministers to cover up their own IT cost blowout. 🤫
And, finally, we wrap up Fieldays with this year's politician 'vox pops' – while Labour managed to get away (by not turning up) even the PM couldn't resist but have a yarn to the Taxpayers' Union! 💁♂️
But first, the Nats and the Greens have today announced major election policies.
Let's dive in.
Nats propose compulsory KiwiSaver from birth, hikes to contributions, and more 💰
In a speech to National Party faithful today, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has picked up NZ First's policy of making KiwiSaver compulsory.
Luxon announced that if National is re-elected they will:
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Make KiwiSaver compulsory for everyone in work from 2028
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Automatically enrol every baby born in New Zealand into KiwiSaver at birth and contribute a $1,500 "Baby Boost" payment.
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Provide mums and dads on paid parental leave with a government contribution to their KiwiSaver, even if a parent isn’t contributing themselves.
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Require employers to continue KiwiSaver contributions for employees over 65.
Strangely, there is nothing on the National Party's website (even the speech is missing) which is a pain, because we always like to provide our supporters with the raw information, so you don't have to rely on the media's (nor our) filter.
So we've uploaded Mr Luxon's speech notes here; the media release here; and the National Party's more detailed Policy Document/costings (which was also emailed to the media) here.
Our two cents on compulsory KiwiSaver 🏦
Reasonable minds can differ on making KiwiSaver compulsory.
On the one hand, encouraging people to save for their own retirement is a good thing. More self-reliance, bigger nest eggs, and less dependence on the taxpayer-funded pension system.
On the other hand, compulsion is a very big step – and one that should make anyone who believes in personal choice and limited government pause.
The problem is that once KiwiSaver becomes compulsory, it stops being a voluntary savings scheme in any meaningful sense. It becomes, in effect, a payroll tax – albeit a hypothecated one where the money is accounted for in your own name.
And make no mistake: there is no free lunch when politicians talk about “employer contributions”.
National is already increasing the default employer contribution from 3 percent to 3.5 percent, with a path to 6 percent over the next few years. That money has to come from somewhere: it means higher costs for employers and, over time, lower wage growth than workers would otherwise have seen (at a time when the economy and wages are hardly roaring ahead).
Compulsory KiwiSaver means less take-home pay. That might be a worthwhile trade-off for some, but for mortgage holders, who will have less money available for repayments, it's a false economy. For some, the family home or lifestyle block is their nest-egg. Paying more in debt interest, because money must be deducted for KiwiSaver, doesn't actually increase overall savings for retirement.
And, unlike the lavish superannuation scheme MPs have set up for themselves, us mere mortals can't do a Chris Hipkins and use superannuation to pay the mortgage on a holiday home (that isn't allowed under KiwiSaver - it can only be withdrawn for a deposit on a first home).
Removing the ability for Kiwis to opt out, except in very limited circumstances, also changes the nature of KiwiSaver.
At the moment, people can vote with their feet. If they don’t like the scheme, don’t trust the settings, or simply need the money now, they have choices. Once those choices are removed, a pressure valve disappears.
The longer-term risk is not just today’s policy, but tomorrow’s politicians.
Once every worker is forced into KiwiSaver, and once balances become even larger, it is not hard to imagine future ministers eyeing up those funds for their own pet projects. A future Government determined to push investment into fashionable “green” industries, or away from sectors it deems politically unpopular, could start inventing quotas, carve-outs, and rules about where KiwiSaver money should go. That is much harder to do while people can opt out. Without that discipline, the temptation for Chlöe political meddling only grows.
But politics is the art of the possible. Compulsion may be a bad principle, but taxpayers are currently compelled to fund the very expensive alternative: universal superannuation.
If the policy results in increased national savings and means more New Zealanders arrive at retirement able to fend for themselves, that is good for taxpayers — and good for those of us who believe in self-reliance.
More than a little irony 😂
I understand there are just a few readers of Taxpayer Updates who are in their golden years...
They will appreciate the irony of the Party that spent the 1970s and 80s campaigning against compulsory superannuation – most famously with the 1975 “Dancing Cossacks” ad – announcing the modern version as its key election policy...
And then there's the timing. Having spent the morning warning voters about New Zealand First - and the risk that they might go with Labour - the National Party leader then stood up and announced (as his own) a policy NZ First announced barely a month ago!
An ACT supporter commented to me this afternoon that it is usually Labour who get warm feelings about government handouts 'from the cradle to the grave' but now it's the Nats proposing to literally turn on financial support for all newborn babies...
Maybe that's a bit harsh. After 50 years, it's certainly worth debating again.
Do you support making KiwiSaver compulsory?
As I said at the top, reasonable minds can differ on the merits of making KiwiSaver compulsory.
I can tell you that the policy wonks on staff are split on this one, which is why I've turned down media requests for comment on the policy this afternoon.
We'd love two seconds of your time to vote in our survey/straw poll of supporters on the issue.
>>> Vote in the straw poll here 🗳️ <<<
There's no right or wrong answer. We'd love to know the views of our supporters. Vote in the survey or hit reply and email me back!
Greens promise massive tax grab with new (leaked) tax policy 😱
The other big news today is the Greens' new $22.6 billion tax grab plan: a wealth tax, hiking corporate taxes; and something the Greens are calling a Capital Acquisitions Tax on gifts and inheritance (i.e. a "death tax").
Unlike the Nats, the Greens have put everything onto their website (alas, it even leaked because it was up too early!)
The Greens' proposals amount to a $10,141 per household tax grab in the first four years alone.
And that's the net amount. They are talking up a 'tax free threshold' but it barely compensates a third of the overall tax hikes contained in the plan.
The Greens call this a plan for fairness. At $10,141 per household, New Zealanders might have a different word for it!
To put it simply, the package just isn't thought through. For example, despite European examples where wealth taxes have failed - due largely to the high-net-worth individuals (and their businesses) uprooting - the Greens haven’t even bothered to model behavioural changes into their costings.
We know though that if such policies were implemented, many of the very people New Zealand needs to grow the pie, and raise New Zealand's growth, wages, and economic prosperity, will leave.
There's a lot to unpack (a tax-free threshold idea, for example, is one of those policies that sounds really good initially, but falls over once the experts dig into it). We'll get into the detail over the next few days.
You can read James' immediate comments provided to the media on our website here.
With Labour promising policies it cannot afford, taxpayers can't afford to write off any Green policy as unrealistic when it's very clear Chris Hipkins will need them (not just the Greens, but the extra money!) post-election.
UPDATE: Councillors' rights to information and Watts' legal screw-up 🥸
The Bill is supposed to be about (among other things) increasing the rights local councillors have to demand information from officials. But Watts's officials have screwed it up, and we sent him independent legal advice outlining why his Bill would achieve the exact opposite!
We sent Watts the legal advice more than a month ago - along with our request for Mr Watts to be interviewed on our Podcast Taxpayer Talk. We understand Mr Watts meets with LGNZ representatives every week, so the least he can do is front to the representatives of ratepayers once in a while.
While it's still crickets from Watts and his office, it seems Maurice Williamson has had better luck speaking to some other Ministers.
Another policy victory coming soon? 🤞
Maternity scans with what money? Labour’s CGT pot is already empty 👶💸
Labour has found yet another thing its so-called "limited" capital gains tax is supposed to pay for.
This week, Chris Hipkins promised to fund maternity scans through Labour’s CGT.
But there is one small problem: the money has already been spent!
Labour already promised the same CGT revenue would pay for three "free", sorry taxpayer-funded, GP visits a year. Now it is apparently paying for maternity scans too.
That means it wouldn't even cover Labour’s GP visits promise, let alone another $28.6 million a year for maternity scans.
So where is the money coming from, Chippie?
There are only three real options: rampant inflation, spiralling house prices, or Labour expanding the tax onto things it currently says are safe - like the family home, shares, or KiwiSaver.
And that is the real risk.
Once the machinery for a capital gains tax exists, future governments will widen it with the stroke of a pen – as is happening in Australia.
What starts as a tax on “someone else” has a nasty habit of creeping closer to "everyone else".
👉 We say Labour’s capital gains tax fails the fairness test. Read why here.
MBIE’s $33 million tech failure - where are the consequences? 🖥️🔥
Before politicians come asking taxpayers for more money, perhaps they could explain what happened to the money they already had?
Not a little bit less than promised.
Literally nothing.
Worse, officials were reportedly caught withholding information from Ministers, deliberately avoiding Cabinet scrutiny, and continuing to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on a project that was already doomed.
All up, taxpayers were left with a $33 million mess - and no biometrics upgrade to show for it.
This isn’t your usual run-of-the-mill waste; this was a direct attack on democratic accountability.
Most concerningly, officials who expressed concern (i.e. tried to blow the whistle) were quietly moved sideways by MBIE managers.
Disgraceful stuff.
Awards for failure? 🏅
New Zealanders elect Ministers to make decisions. Bureaucrats are employed to implement them. When officials decide they know better than elected representatives and actively dodge scrutiny, something has gone seriously wrong.
If someone in the private sector oversaw the misleading of their bosses and wasted $33 million, they would not be quietly shuffled sideways.
And they certainly would not be given an award!
But that's exactly what happened here.
Despite Ministers having known about the misconduct within MBIE for months, the department's boss at the time, Carolyn Tremain (pictured), was awarded a Companion of the King's Service Order (KSO) for her [checks notes] "services to the public service".
Only in Wellington could a scandal and attempted cover-up end with a gong for the boss!
If no one is held accountable for misleading Ministers and burning through millions, then the lesson to Wellington is simple: carry on, no consequences.
Enter "Mr Fix-it"? 👀
The Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche told media that it will be ‘quite the task’ to rebuild confidence and trust after MBIE officials misled Ministers.
No kidding!
We've never met Sir Brian. Unlike the Ombudsman and Auditor General (who have good working relationships with your humble Taxpayers' Union), Sir Brian has always told us that he's much too busy to meet with taxpayer advocates.
We read often in the media that Sir Brian is a "Mr Fix-it". But it's not at all clear what, to date, Sir Brian has actually, well, fixed.
You see, Sir Brian has developed a reputation among Wellington's "lanyard class" of public sector bosses (and politicians) as making issues go away – at least in terms of getting tricky political matters off the front pages.
But that is different from the more difficult task of 'fixing' or reform.
We hear from well-placed sources in Wellington that despite huffing and puffing in the media that there is likely to be dismissals those in leadership positions within MBIE have been told that the investigation is likely to take many months (perhaps even a year) and by then anyone who has not already been moved on will have the chance for a quiet exit.
In public sector land, "dismissals" doesn't mean getting the sack. It means getting shifted sideways...
So if the Kings Birthday gong for Ms Tremain is anything to go by, don't hold your breath in terms of accountability.
Hopefully we are wrong, and Sir Brian delivers both accountability and public sector reform, delivering an accountable, efficient, and transparent public service.
Time will tell...
Shane Jones’ $63k travel bill and stretch limos ✈️🥂
That included a private limousine on standby 24 hours a day over multiple days and $1,500 per night hotel bills.
Apparently, nothing says “cost of living crisis” quite like keeping a limo warm just in case.
Taxpayers understand that Ministers must travel. International trips cost money. Heck, I even think it's unreasonable to expect Ministers to travel anything but lie-flat/business class for overnight flights.
But no reasonable employer would let a staff member spend twice the approved budget and then simply shrug it off.
Ministers should not be held to a lower standard than everyone else.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis came out on the side of taxpayers, saying Jones had made “significant errors” - which led to the incredible line, “provoke the matua at your peril” from Shane Jones in response.
But the Prime Minister is Shane Jones’ boss. He should explain why he approved a doubling of the cost after the fact, and why taxpayers are expected to just pick up the tab.
Households are cutting back. Ministers should not be upgrading the bill.
Tory Whānau's Golden Mile finally buried, and not a moment too soon 🎉
Some good news from Wellington, for once.
The Golden Mile mega-project has finally been canned.
The project had lurched from a $78 million idea into a $220 million monster.
That’s $2,600 per Wellington household - all while Wellingtonians faced the highest commercial rates in the country, the second-highest residential rates, and a CBD still crying out for the basics: safety, cleanliness, foot traffic, and businesses that can afford to stay open.
Instead of the full Golden Mile, councillors have now backed a much cheaper “Tin Mile” approach, with up to $40 million to focus on more modest improvements.
That is still real money. But compared with throwing hundreds of millions more at Tory Whanau's failing legacy project, it is a victory for common sense.
But the councillor elected to stop it was barred from voting 🚧🗳️
Councillor Karl Tiefenbacher - businessman, Kaffee Eis owner, and someone elected after directly campaigning against the Golden Mile - was barred from voting because he owns a business on the road in question.
Sorry, what?
Voters elected him knowing exactly where he stood and why he understood the issue. Yet when the time came to vote, the very experience that helped get him elected was used to silence him.
Conflict of interest rules are supposed to stop councillors lining their own pockets. They should not be used to stop elected representatives delivering the mandate voters gave them.
As our Head of Policy, James Ross, argued this week, that makes a mockery of local democracy.
So yes, ratepayers should welcome the Golden Mile finally being put out of its misery.
But Wellingtonians should be deeply worried when the people they elect to stop wasteful projects can be barred from voting on whether to stop them.
Fieldays 2026: farmers know what is at stake 🚜🌾
This year’s Fieldays was one to remember.
The response was overwhelming.
It is clear farmers understand exactly what is at stake this election - and just how devastating the Greens’ wealth tax would be for family farming across New Zealand.
Thousands have already signed our petition to Save the Family Farm, and the conversations we had at Fieldays made one thing obvious: rural New Zealand is awake to the risk.
The weather was beautiful, the turnout was incredible, and it was fantastic to be out there talking with supporters and farmers about the upcoming election.
Vox poping the pollies at Fieldays 🎥 🚜
One of the great things about Fieldays is catching up with old friends (and politicians who can't run away from a camera!).
Casey Costello is a former Chair of the Taxpayers' Union (now a Cabinet Minister) but I still gave her stick for putting up taxes on durries, not once, but three times since becoming a Minister. 🤬
The PM had a yarn with me about local government and the election ahead.
Shane Jones on Labour's missing stall, plus energy policy (the filming was before we learned of his work trip misspending).
And Deputy PM David Seymour came along to check out the Taxpayers' Union stall.
To see all our interviews, make sure you follow us on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), or for the teenagers (and young at heart) via Instagram.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday evening.
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